I love Kirkwood but I ended up going to Northstar 12 times last year and it was a blast. I got the Northstar season pass for this seasons so it looks like I'll be spending all my time there and also at Heavenly.

Diamond Peak is ok but it is small. If you head to the summit, the runs are nice if the snow is good though.

I really like Northstar, but the lift lines were insanely long during the weekends. I'm thinking its because Shell had the 2-for-1 pass so everyone was hopping on that deal. Hopefully it won't be as crowded this season.

"best" is pretty subjective. a resort may be best because of its park, or best because of the powder, or best because of the variety of terrain, or best because it's not crowded, or best because it's cheap, or even best because of the view. so, it really depends on what you're looking for.

heavenly has good powder, large variety of terrain, and a pretty good view of lake tahoe on some runs. but it lacks good park features, can be more expensive than others, and has a lot of flat areas that will make you unstrap and walk. The plus is the location is right at South Lake Tahoe next to the casinos, restaurants, and night clubs.

kirkwood has great powder, large variety of terrain, view is no different from any other ski resort, never crowded, has lift deals from costco, but is a little behind on the parks. Bad location, it's 45 min from civilization.

northstar has less variety of terrain, but great park features. not far from truckee. not much of a view. gets very crowded on weekends.

diamond peak is a small resort with limited terrain. awsome view of lake tahoe from the summit. cheap. closer to reno if your flying in. i don't remember any parks there. not crowded.

alpine meadows gets good powder and a pretty good variety of terrain. not too much for parks. you're basically getting squaw without the crowd.

heavenly has good powder, large variety of terrain, and a pretty good view of lake tahoe on some runs. but it lacks good park features, can be more expensive than others, and has a lot of flat areas that will make you unstrap and walk. The plus is the location is right at South Lake Tahoe next to the casinos, restaurants, and night clubs.

I don't agree that they lack good park features. They had 3 parks last year that were expertly maintained and in my opinion were only second to Northstar. This year they are adding another park bringing it up to 4. I think it's only going to get better every year at N*/Heav if they make their parks like Keystone/Vail/Breck.

1. Squaw (crowded on weekends but its huge so you'll find areas that aren't crowded)2. Kirkwood (bare bones park, best terrain)3. Northstar (best park in Tahoe)4. Sierra (great overall hill, decent park, close to south shore/casinos, not too crowded - except last season with the shell buy 1-get1 coupons everyone used on sundays)4. Homewood (smaller hill but nice spot to go - mostly locals)5. Boreal (small hill, good park, night riding, cheap lift tickets, good to hit up on your way home from north shore via 80 or to hit up mid week when its empty).

Heavenly - I left it off the list since I've been there 3-4 times and just haven't liked it over there. Its definitely nice to be so close to the casinos but wasn't a fan of the resort in general. Maybe I'll give it another try this season and stick to the Nevada side like everyone says.

I was at Mt Rose last week. Not crowded at all and that storm that rolled through made for some nice conditions. I also loved how cheap you can get lift tickets off of Liftopia. I got mine a little over a week in advance, but picked up a 2 day ticket for $54. Was talking to some people on the lift and they said they got a 2 day for $22.

I haven't visited all the resorts in Tahoe, but my favorites are definitely Squaw and Kirkwood. I have a pass at Kirkwood, but right after a big dump of snow, the 88 is closed pretty frequently in both directions, so you usually have to go somewhere else the first day, and get your fresh tracks a day later, which is actually kind of nice, since you get twice as many freshies for the same storm!

I learned to ride at Northstar, and I enjoy their trees, but the mountain gets ridiculously crowded on weekends and sometimes I just want more vertical terrain than they offer.

Kirkwood. if youa re staying on the south side of the lake you should DEFINITELY hit up Sierra as well. I love Sierra. I have some buy one get one free lift tickets for Northstar and Sierra. Shoot me a text before you come.

There is no "best" mountain and there are flavors of everything. I don't mind Northstar on a weekend cuz I have the fast pass, and you couldn't pay me to deal with Squaw. I like Heavenly now, but only the Nevada side. Boreal has its place in the kingdom, but it's kinda on an island. Sugar Bowl is pretty cool, Sierra is the best south shore spot, Kirkwood is epic if you can get to it on a pow day and 88 is open. Alpine is meh, but that's me.

If you can hit Sierra on a good pow day you will find there is no equivalent. Out of the places I have been in Utah, Colorado, and Cali, even locals from those spots agreed, the best Pow day they ever had was at Sierra.

Other then that, NorthStar has a sick park. Heavenly has a sweeeeettt backcountry run called Firebreak, best to hit on or shortly after some freshies, and if you have fun with it you can spend a solid hour + riding it. Kirkwood is nice and different, but tucked way back in nowhereland. There is no shitty resort in Tahoe...except maybe Homewood when they dont set up the parks, but for $25 no complaints here. Hit me up when you come out this way.

If you can hit Sierra on a good pow day you will find there is no equivalent. Out of the places I have been in Utah, Colorado, and Cali, even locals from those spots agreed, the best Pow day they ever had was at Sierra.

Sierra is only good on a powder day, it sucks otherwise.

But even then, I'm going to assume you've never been to Squaw on a powder day.

If you can hit Sierra on a good pow day you will find there is no equivalent. Out of the places I have been in Utah, Colorado, and Cali, even locals from those spots agreed, the best Pow day they ever had was at Sierra.

Sierra is only good on a powder day, it sucks otherwise.

But even then, I'm going to assume you've never been to Squaw on a powder day.

Squaw was epic on my pow day for the first 1.5 runs before everything was tracked out. then the wind kicked up and everything shut down. but yes, the 1.5 runs was very nice.

i only had the chance to hit up heavenly and sierra while i was out there. heavenly is awesome if you pick some good pockets of the resort where there aren't thousands of people trying to get on a lift (like the bottom of california trail)..nevada side was awesome by north bowl and galaxy lift since you can make your way over to the gates. sierra was amazing as well with more glades and natural terrain, not to mention it was barely crowded even on a pow day when we were there.

Nowhere in Tahoe is good to go to right now due to the temps and the displacement of the jetstreams right now. It costs like 91$ just to go to Heavenly and they only have 6 runs on the Cali side open... THEN if you wanted to go hit the whopping 12 runs open on the Nevada side (I use the term open quite loosely) you will have to take a shuttle bus because the runs dont even connect. so after u waste a good 45 minutes to an hour doing all that you get some riding in on some trashy runs that beat ur board up inevitably.... I wish I could say different right now but STAY AWAY FROM TAHOE!

Nowhere in Tahoe is good to go to right now due to the temps and the displacement of the jetstreams right now. It costs like 91$ just to go to Heavenly and they only have 6 runs on the Cali side open... THEN if you wanted to go hit the whopping 12 runs open on the Nevada side (I use the term open quite loosely) you will have to take a shuttle bus because the runs dont even connect. so after u waste a good 45 minutes to an hour doing all that you get some riding in on some trashy runs that beat ur board up inevitably.... I wish I could say different right now but STAY AWAY FROM TAHOE!

hated heavenly and loved northstar when i was there.....heavenly is too flat but its next to the casino's if u want to get in a few hands after shredding all day.

You need to know about all the secret stashes to really love Heavenly. I thought the same thing my first few times but can't get enough now. Get some fresh wax on your board and you are good to go. Talk with some locals.

hated heavenly and loved northstar when i was there.....heavenly is too flat but its next to the casino's if u want to get in a few hands after shredding all day.

I thought the NV side wasn't so bad. The CA side has more flat areas that give riders some trouble. You just have to know where to go.

Northstar only has that East Ridge run with the view of the lake that's flat. But you should be ok there if your board is waxed. Near the bottom of the Backside lift has a little flat area where the trails merge. But you should be coming down with pretty good speed off those black diamond runs and not have any problems.

If not for the distance, my favorite resort at Tahoe would be Kirkwood. But, because of the time it takes to get there and the lack of snowy, curvy 2-lane roads, my favorite is Northstar.

hated heavenly and loved northstar when i was there.....heavenly is too flat but its next to the casino's if u want to get in a few hands after shredding all day.

wow, for someone with only 14 days under your belt, you sure are picky

I love heavenly. It's got everything most any level of snowboarder needs, more acreage than most resorts on earth and all within walking distance of town. Everything considered, I'd say it's the "best" resort in Tahoe.

My favorites are Heavenly and Squaw Valley. They are just 2 huge mountains that you find something you want at any time, especially if the snow coverage is there. My next level of resorts would be Northstar, Kirkwood, Alpine and Sugarbowl. All the others come after the above. Generally though, you have to pick and choose based on what you want to do and the terrain available at the time.

But as others have said, the best is really based on perspectives of each person. How each one feels about their riding, what terrain they like and the conditions they go to those resorts will definitely affect your feelings for each one. Also, knowing the terrain and runs are key to enjoying the place.

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